Saturday, October 20, 2012

Cliffs of Moher Tour - Ireland

A group of us joined a day tour from downtown Cork to the Cliffs of Moher after our conference was completed. We had a number of brief stops along the way. Above is a view of the Shannon River in Limerick City.

Another brief stop at the ruins of Leamaneh Castle - fun ruins to climb around and photograph.

Many ancient tombs in the area. Above is a portal tomb called Poulnabrone Dolmen which is over 4000 years old. (Reminded me of the Stone Table in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.)

We curved through this rocky area called the Burren with a most unique glacier carved landscape. Stark and beautiful!

A scenic stop along Galway Bay.

Gorgeous wildflowers all along the way.

We had about an hour stop at the Cliffs of Moher. Quite an amazing view in both directions.

There are nice walkways that let you enjoy the view. I was not brave enough to go over the barriers into the restricted area to get closer to the edge, but my friends got some amazing photos. Too close to the edge for me!

Pretty little castle-like tower at the top of one cliff.

Our tour was with Paddywagon Tours and it was a most unusual experience. Our tour driver was friendly and funny, but a bit ADHD and forgetful. He had to make 2 side trips to retrieve his forgotten phone, texted while he was driving, played some inappropriate music (we had a couple children on the tour), and forgot what time he was supposed to connect with the shuttle to take us back to Cork and we were a half hour late. Two guys sat in the back of the bus drinking beer and their melted ice ran all over the floor of the bus. It was not particularly professional - we still had fun, but I felt sorry for the family on the tour.